Student nurses recuperating in hospital

Thirty-one second-year student nurses, who were on admission at the Volta Regional Hospital, following their involvement in a road accident near Apirede on the Akwapim Range in the Eastern Region have been discharged.

Forty -seven out of over 70 students, who were involved in the accident, were admitted at the hospital for various degrees of injuries.

The remaining 16 are still undergoing treatment with one said to be in a critical condition and believed to be suffering a brain contusion.

A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan is to be conducted on her to ascertain the extent of the problem after which she would be transferred to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to be attended to by a neurologist.

Six students who were admitted to the Koforidua Government Hospital have also been discharged.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the two students who died, Mavis Mawuli, 20 and Richard Etsey Kakaney, 22, and the driver of the bus who also died on the spot have since been deposited at the morgue of the Volta Regional Hospital.

Psychological work up

The acting Medical Director of the hospital, Dr John Tampuori, informed the Volta Regional Minister, Ms Helen Ntoso, and her entourage when they visited the accident victims that due to the nature of the accident, the students would need some psychological therapy to relieve them of the trauma.

He called for collaboration between the hospital, ambulance services and the Volta Regional Co-ordinating Council to ensure that they were adequately prepared in the event of a mass casualty situation like what happened to the nursing students so that each and every stakeholder would know their role and act accordingly.

Regional Minister Prays

Later on, the regional minister laid her hands on the victims one after the other and prayed for their speedy recovery.

Ms Ntoso thanked the hospital authorities for their support which had seen most of the students return home in good health.

The road accident occurred as the students were returning to their base after an educational tour which took them to the School for the Blind and the Centre for Scientific and Research into Plant Medicine (CSRPM), all at Mampong –Akwapim in the Eastern Region, in partial fulfilment of their annual educational practice.

Great Tragedy

The principal of the Ho Nursing Training College (NTC), Mrs Josephine Ansu-Gyeabour, described the accident as a tragedy that had befallen the school. She, however, thanked God for the divine intervention that prevented more deaths from occurring.

She disclosed that the vehicle could have landed in a valley but for a tree that blocked it from falling the full distance.

Mrs Ansu- Gyeabour thanked the nurses and doctors of the Koforidua General Hospital for acting swiftly to save the lives of the students.

Earlier, the Ho Municipal Chief Executive had also visited the accident victims.